Many different types of couplers have been used for connecting and disconnecting hydraulic lines and for preventing loss of hydraulic fluid upon disconnection. In most hydraulic systems, it is advantageous to provide these couplers at convenient locations for the rapid connection and disconnection of hydraulic lines.
Hydraulic couplers generally comprise a female connector on one hydraulic line and a male connector on a line to be connected. The connection of this type of coupler is accomplished simply by moving one or both of the coupling halves along the axis of the line so that the male connector "plugs into" the female connector.
The "plug-in" type of hydraulic coupler is very convenient to use and is satisfactory for many coupling situations. However, the axial movement necessary to complete the coupling action in presently available hydraulic couplers prevents their use with hard-line plumbing where no axial movement can be achieved. Hard-line connections may be required between two rigid hydraulic lines where flexible lines cannot be accommodated or between a fixed hydraulic component and a rigid hydraulic line. Thus, there exists a need for an hydraulic coupler which provides for rapid connection and disconnection of rigid hydraulic lines where no axial movement of the coupling halves can be achieved.